rissi2017 RA 9729 Today is Monday, July 31, 2017 The LAWPHIL Project Custom Search | ARELLANO LAW FOVNDATION PHILIPPINE LAVIS AND JURISPRUDENCE DATABANK Republic of the Philippines Congress of the Philippines Metro Manila Fourteenth Congress Third Regular Session Begun and held in Metro Manila, on Monday, the twenty-seventh day of July, two thousand nine. REPUBLIC ACT NO, 9729 AN ACT MAINSTREAMING CLIMATE CHANGE INTO GOVERNMENT POLICY FORMULATIONS, ESTABLISHING THE FRAMEWORK STRATEGY AND PROGRAM ON CLIMATE CHANGE, CREATING FOR THIS PURPOSE THE CLIMATE CHANGE COMMISSION, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assembled: ‘Section 1. Titie. — This Act shall be known as the “Climate Change Act of 2009”. ‘Section 2. Declaration of Policy. ~ Its the policy of the State to afford full protection and the advancement of the right of the people to a healthful ecology in accord with the rhythm and harmony of nature. In this light, the State has adopted the Philippine Agenda 21 framework which espouses sustainable development, to fulfil human needs while ‘maintaining the quality of the natural environment for current and fulure generations. ‘Towards this end, the State adopts the principle of protecting the climate system for the benefit of humankind, on the basis of climate justice or common but differentiated responsibilities and the Precautionary Principle to guide decision-making in climate risk management. As a party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the State adopts the ultimate objective of the Convention which is the stabilization of greenhouse gas ‘concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system which should be achieved within a time frame sufficient to allow ecosystems to adapt naturally to climate change, to ensure that food production is nat threatened and to enable economic development to proceed in a sustainable manner. As a parly to the Hyogo Framework for Action, the State likewise adopts the strategic goals in order to build national and local resilience to climate change-related disasters, Recognizing the vulnerability of the Philippine archipelago and its local communities, particularly the poor, women, and children, to potential dangerous consequences of climate change such as rising seas, changing landscapes, increasing frequency and/or severity of droughts, fires, floads and storms, climate-related illnesses and diseases, damage to ecosystems, biodiversity loss that affect the country’s environment, culture, and economy, the State shall cooperate with the global community in the resolution of climate change issues, including disaster risk reduction, It shall be the policy of the State to enjoin the participation of national and local governments, businesses, ongovernment organizations, local communities and the public to prevent and reduce the adverse impacts of climate change and, at the same lime, maximize the benefits of climate change. It shall also be the policy of the State to incorporate a gender-sensitive, pro-children and pro-poor perspective in all climate change and renewable energy efforts, plans and programs. In view thereof, the State shall strengthen, integrate, consolidate and institutionalize ‘government initiatives to achieve coordination in the implementation of plans and programs to ‘address climate change in the context of sustainable development. Further recognizing that climate change and disaster risk reduction are closely interrelated and effective disaster risk reduction will enhance climate change adaptive capacity, the State shall integrate disaster risk reduction into climate ‘change programs and initiatives. Cognizant of the need to ensure that national and subnational government policies, plans, programs and projects are founded upon sound environmental considerations and the principle of sustainable development, it is hereby doclared the policy of the State to systematically integrate the concept of climate change in various phases of policy formulation, development plans, poverty reduction strategies and other development tools and techniques by all agencies and instrumentalilies of the government Se 3. Definition of Terms. — For purposes of this Act, the following shall have the corresponding meanings: (a) “Adaptation” refers to the adjustment in natural or human systems in response to actual or expected Climatic stimuli or their effects, which moderates harm or exploits beneficial opportunites. (b) “Adaptive capacity” refers to the ability of ecological, social or economic systems to adjust to climate change including climate variability and extremes, to moderate or offset potential damages and to take advantage of associated opportunities with changes in climate or to cope with the consequences thereof. hp swwa lawphiLnetistatutesirepacts/a200%/rq_9728_2008.him! wvrissi2017 RA 9729 (c) “Anthropogenic causes” refer to causes resulting from human activities or produced by human beings. (@) “Climate Change" refers to a change in climate that can be identified by changes in the mean andlor variabilty of its properties and that persists for an extended period typically decades or longer, whether due to natural variabiliy or as a result of human activity, (c) “Climate Variability” refers to the variations in the average state and in other statistics of the climate on all temporal and spatial scales beyond that of individual weather events. (0 “Climate Risk” refers to the product of climate and related hazards working over the vulnerability of human and natural ecosystems. (g) “Disaster” refers to a serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a society involving widespread human, material, economic or environmental losses and impacts which exceed the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources, (h) "Disaster risk reduction” refers to the concept and practice of reducing disaster risks through systematic efforts to analyze and manage the causal factors of disasters, including through reduced exposure to hazards, lessened vulnerability of people and property, wise management of land and the environment, and improved preparedness for adverse events. (i) "Gender mainstreaming” refers to the strategy for making women’s as well as men's concerns and experiences an integral dimension of the design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of policies and programs in all political, economic, and societal spheres so that women and men benefit equaly and inequality is not perpetuated. It is the process of assessing the implications for women and men of any planned action, including legislation, policies, or programs in all areas and at all levels, () "Global Warming” refers to the increase in the average temperature of the Earth's near-surface air and ‘oceans that is associated with the increased concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, (k) “Greenhouse effect” rofers to the process by which the absorption of infrared radiation by the atmosphere warms the Earth, () “Greenhouse gases (GHG)" refers to constituents of the atmosphere that contribute to the greenhouse effect including, but not limited to, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulfur hexafluoride, (m) “Mainstreaming” refers to the integration of policies and measures that address climate change into development planning and sectoral decision-making, (n) “Mitigation” in the context of climate change, refers to human intervention to address anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of all GHG, including ozone- depleting substances and their substitutes. (0) “Mitigation potential” shall refer to the scale of GHG reductions that could be made, relative to emission baselines, for a given level of carbon price (expressed in cost per unit of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions avoided or reduced). (p) “Sea level rise” refers to an increase in sea level which may be influenced by factors like global warming through expansion of sea water as the oceans warm and melting of ice aver land and local factors such as land subsidence. (q) “Vulnerability” refers to the degree to which a system is susceptible to, or unable to cope with, adverse effects of climate change, including climate variability and extremes. Vulnerability is a function of the character, magnitude, and rate of climate change and variation to which a system is exposed, its sensitivity, and its adaptive capacity. Section 4 Creation of the Climate Change Commission. ~ There is hereby established a Climate Change Commission, hereinafter referred to as the Commission. ‘The Commission shall be an independent and autonomous body and shall have the same status as that of a national government agency. It shall be attached to the Office of the President. ‘The Commission shall be the sole policy-making body of the government which shall be tasked to coordinate, ‘monitor and evaluate the programs and action plans of the government relating to climate change pursuant to the provisions of this Act. The Commission shall be organized within sixty (60) days from the effectivity of this Act ‘Section 5. Composition of the Commission. — The Commission shall be composed of the President of the Republic ff the Philippines who shall serve as the Chairperson, and three (3) Commissioners to be appointed by the President, one of whom shall serve as the Vice Chairperson of the Commission. ‘The Commission shall have an advisory board composed of the following hp swwa lawphiLnetistatutesirepacts/a200%/rq_9728_2008.him!rissi2017 RA 9729 (a) Secretary of the Department of Agriculture; (b) Secretary of the Department of Energy; (c) Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources; (d) Secretary of the Department of Education; (6) Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs; (0) Secretary of the Department of Health; (6) Secretary of the Department ofthe Interior and Local Government; (h) Secretary of the Department of National Defense, in his capacity as Chair of the National Disaster Coordinating Council; () Secretary of the Department of Public Works and Highways; () Secretary of the Department of Science and Technology; (k) Secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development; (V) Secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry; (m) Secretary of the Department of Transportation and Communications; (n) Director-General of the National Economic and Development Authority, in his capacity as Chair of the Philippine Council for Sustainable Development; (0) Director-General of the National Security Council (p) Chairperson of the National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women: (q) President of the League of Provinces; (f) President of the League of Cities; (s) President of the League of Municipalities; (1) President of the Liga ng mga Barangay: (u) Representative from the academe: (v) Representative from the business sector; and (w) Representative from nongovernmental organizations. At least one (1) of the sectoral representatives shall come from the disaster risk reduction community. ‘The representatives shall be appointed by the President from a list of nominees submitted by their respective ‘groups. They shall serve for a term of six (6) years without reappointment unless their representation is withdrawn by the sector they represent. Appointment to any vacancy shall be only for the unexpired term of the predecessor. Only the ex officio members of the advisory board shall appoint a qualified representative who shall hold a rank of no less than an Undersecretary, ‘Section 6, Meetings of the Commission. - The Commission shall meet once every three (3) months, or as often as may be deemed necessary by the Chairperson. The Chairperson may likewise call upon other government agencies for the proper implementation of this Act. Section 7. Qualifications, Tenure, Compensation of Commissioners. ~ The Commissioners must be Filipino citizens, residents of the Philippines, at least thirty (30) years of age at the time of appointment, with at least ten (10) years of ‘experience on climate change and of proven honesty and ntegrty. The Commissioners shall be experts in climate change by virtue of their educational background, training and experience: Provided, That at least one (1) Commissioner shall be female: Provided, further, That in no case shall the Commissioners come from the same sector: Provided, finally, That in no case shall any of the Commissioners appoint representatives to act on their behalf. ‘The Commissioners shall hold office for a period of six (6) years, and may be subjected to reappointment: Provided, ‘That no person shall serve for mora than two (2) consecutive terms: Provided, further, That in case of a vacancy, the new appointee shall fully meet the qualifications of a Commissioner and shall hold office for the unexpired portion of the term only: Provided, finally, That in no case shall a Commissioner be designated in a temporary or acting capacity. hp swwa lawphiLnetistatutesirepacts/a200%/rq_9728_2008.him! ar